Beet-harvester



L. 0. GRAHAM.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 28. 1916-. 1,357,163.

RENEWED MAR. 19. 1920.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET l- 3 S ,3 mm

L. 0. GRAHAM.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION men ocnza. 19I6- RENEWED MAR. 19, 1920.

1,357,163. Patented Oct 26,1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a a-m-ueu Coz A Halls 0. 0/0/2471! 3 L. O. GRAHAM.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION HLED OCT. 28. 1916. RENEWED MAR. 19.1920.

1,357,1 3, Patented Oct. 26,1920.

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L. 0. GRAHAM.

BEET HARVESIER.

APPLl'iATlGf HLED ocnzs. 191s. RENEWED MAR. 19. 1920.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- anaemic 1. Lam 0 firafiazzz Elbtomwq Wit/"zoo co W WiUNITED STATES rarsnr DEERE.

LOUIS ORVILLE GRAHAM, OF KNOX CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 0F FORTY ONE-HUNDREDTHS TO FRANK J'. HURLEY, OF Nlll/V HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

BEET- IARVESTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

llatcnteil Oct. 226, 1920.

Application filed October 28, 1916, Serial No. 128,253. Renewed March19, 1920. Serial No. 367,208.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Louis 0. GRAHAM, acitizen of the United States, residing at Knox City, in the county ofKnox and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements inBeet-l larvesters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to beet harvesters and it has for its object toproduce a machine of this class which will possess superior advantagesin point of simplicity, durability and general efficiency.

A further object of the invention is to produce a beet lifting orextracting mechanism of simple and improved construction involving theuse of a plurality of lifting elements or hooks carried by an endlesschain, said elements being of a nature to positively engage and lift thebeet roots from the ground.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear as thenature of the in; vention is better understood, the same consists in theimproved construction and novel arrangement and combination of partswhich will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferredform of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitationis necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited,but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of theclaims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed in accordance withthe invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 38 in Fig. 2.

Fig. i is a rear elevation.

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail view of some of the beet lifting elementsor units showing also a portion of the chain on which said elements aremounted.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the frame showing one of thewheel carrying spindles.

Correspondingparts in the several figures are denoted by like charactersof reference.

The frame 15 of the improved machine is supported on a revoluble axle16, the

transporting wheels 17 being fixed on said axle so that the latter willrevolve in its bearings to enable power to be transmitted therefrom forthe purpose of driving the moving parts of the device, as hereinafterset forth. The rearward part of the frame is supported on gage wheels18, the spindles of which, 19, are carried by brackets 20, said bracketsbeing vertically adjustable on the rearward portion of the frame, whichlatter may thus be tilted so as to raise or depress the forward portionof the frame and the operating elements carried thereby.

The frame at its forward end is provided with forwardly extendingconvergent arms 21, the front ends of which are secured on the sides ofthe tongue 22 by means of a bolt 23 that extends transversely throughthe tongue, the rearward end of the tongue being secured on a cross bar2% of the frame.

45 is a shaft supported for rotation in the upper portion of the mainframe adjacent to the rearward end thereof, said shaft receiving motionthrough the medium of in termeshing spur wheels 4:6, 47 from a drivenshaft 4L8, the intermeshing spur wheels be-.

ing so proportioned as to properly speed the shaft 15. The latter"carries a sprocket wheel 49 over which is trained a chain 50 which willbe known as the lifter chain, and the lower portion of which may beguided over an idler 51 on a shaft 52. The lifter chain 50 is composedof U-shaped links each comprising side members 53 which are connectedtogether by a cross bar 55, each side member being provided at the endsthereof with eyes .54: engaging the cross bar or bridge portion of aproximate link. Hingedly supported on the cross bar 55 of each link is abeet lifting element B consisting of an approximately L-shaped hookwhich is made preferably of sheet metal, such as steel or othermaterial, of suitable strength and resiliency for the purpose for whichit is intended. One arm 56 of each hook or element 13 is provided withan eye or eyes 57 hingedly engaging the cross bar 55 of one of thelinks. Another 58 which extends approximately at a right angle to thearm 56 is provided with a l-shaped notch or recess 59 adapted to engagea beet root which will become wedged between the side walls of saidnotch by the advancing movement of the machine when in operation. 60 isa beet receiving hopper. Bolted upon or otherwise connected with thewall portion for the purpose of transmitting motion from the main axleof the machine to the various driven shafts, and while such transmissionmeans may be arranged substantially as shown in, the drawings nodetailed description of the same is necessary.

In the operation of this device it will be seen that as the machine isdrawn over the ground the beet lifting hooks or elements mounted on thelifter chain 50 will engage the beet roots which will become wedged inthe V-shaped notches 59, it being understood that the lifting hooks orelements will be disposed closely together so that it will bepractically impossible to miss a beet. The roots will be lifted orextracted from the ground partly by the progressive motion of the machine, but mainly by the lifting action of the chain 50, and the roots asthey are elevated will becomedetached by the action of the arms 61 anddeposited in the hopper 60. The contents of the hopper 60 may bedischarged at any time, formin a pile on the ground which will beconvenient of subsequent gathering. 7

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed as new, is

1. In a beet harvester, a beet extracting device comprising a 'drivenendless chain having flexibly connected U Shaped links, and beet pullingunits hingedly connected with the bridge pieces of the links.

2. In a beet harvester, a beet extracting device comprising an endlessdriven chain,

unit consisting of an L-shaped member having one arm provided withterminal eyes engaging the bridge piece of a chain link, and another armextending substantially at a right angle to the first'mentioned arm andhaving a V-shaped beet engaging notch.

In a beet harvester, a beet extracting device comprising an endlessdriven chain having flexibly connected U-shaped links,

and beet lifting units'carried thereby, each unit consisting of anL-shaped member having one arm provided with terminal eyes engaging-thebridge piece of a chain link, and another arm extending substantially ata right angle to the first mentioned arm and having a V-shaped beetengaging notch, in combination with a supported member, stationary withrespect to the chain and adapted to disengage the beets from the notchedarms of the lifting units.

5. In. abeet harvester, a beet extracting device comprising'an endlessdriven chain having flexibly connected U-shaped links, and beet liftingunits carried thereby, each unit consisting of an L-shaped member havingone arm provided with terminal eyes engaging the bridge piece of a chainlink, and another arm extendingsubstantially at a riglitangle toothefirst mentioned arm and having a V-shaped beet engaging notch, in

combination with a supported member, sta- 'tionary with respect to thechain andadapt- LOUIS ORVILLE GRAHAM,

